Thursday, March 10, 2016

THROWBACK THURSDAY: Three Country Stars

Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas
Last Saturday, March 5, marked the 53rd anniversary of a plane crash that killed three major country stars of the day: Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins and Patsy Cline. It was country music's equivalent to the crash a few years before that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper

These days, everyone knows Patsy. But Copas and Hawkins are far less known.

Lloyd "Cowboy" Copas, an Ohio native first achieved stardom in the 1940s when he replaced Eddie Arnold in Pee Wee King's band. (I just played one of his hits, "Hangman's Boogie" on my latest Big Enchilada podcast.) Copas began his solo recording career King Records in Cincinnati.

That influential label in 1948 also signed long tall Harold Franklin Hawkins, better known as "Hawkshaw." Hawkins. whose wife was country singer Jean Shepard, began singing professionally after World War II. (An Army vet, Hawkins fought in the Battle of the Bulge.) Like Copas and Cline, he was a member of the Grand Old Opry.

I probably don't need to tell you about Patsy. At the time of her death she was one of the biggest stars of country music.

At the time of the crash, the three were returning from a benefit concert in Kansas City -- a show to raise money for the family of a disc jockey who had died a few months earlier. Also killed in the crash was the pilot, Randy Hughes, who was Cline's manager and Copas' father-in-law.

This story, published Saturday in The Tennessean, tells the story of the crash  and their loved ones who survived them. (Check out the video interview of Jean Shepard, who confesses to being resentful of the fact that Cline's death overshadowed that of her husband's.)

But first enjoy some music from these three country greats. We're fortunate that YouTube has live clips from all three. Here's Cowboy Copas.

 

Enjoy some Hawkshaw Hawkins:


Here's a fairly obscure -- but downright gorgeous -- Patsy Cline tune:



And finally, here's a rather maudlin tribute to Patsy, Hawkshaw and the Cowboy: "Three Country Stars" by Dick Heil





Wednesday, March 09, 2016

WACKY WEDNESDAY: Happy Birthday Yuri Gagarin

Gagarin: Space is the place

America won the Space Race. We got to the moon before anyone else did.

So there.

U.S.A! U.S.A!

But back in 1961, that outcome didn't seem so clear. That was especially true on April 12 of that year when a Soviet cosmonaut became the first person to orbit the Earth.

His name was Yuri Gagarin. And today is his birthday. He would have been 82.

Gagarin joined the Soviet Air Force in 1955. Four years later he was training to become a cosmonaut.

On April 12, 1961 in spacecraft called Vostok 1 Gagarin circled the planet at a speed of 27,400 kilometers per hour. The flight lasted 108 minutes. Unlike the American space flights that followed, Gagarin didn't land back on Earth in his spacecraft. He ejected from Vostok and parachuted to the ground.

Godless communist or not, that was pretty bitchen!

Gagarin was killed in a plane crash on March 27, 1968 -- more than a year before the U.S. moon landing. Gagarin never got to take a second trip to space.

Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left medals on the moon honoring Gagarin and cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, who also had been killed in a plane crash. A crater on the far side of the moon was named in honor of Gagarin.

Back when I was in college, some older friends of mine in El Paso honored Gagarin by inventing a drink named after him. I don't remember what was in it. Vodka I presume. A couple of bartenders down in Juarez would serve it when you asked.

In Russia, he was honored with this song. (Sung by Eduard Labkovskiy in 1975).



A website devoted to Soviet music provided the music. (Turned into English by Google Translate --  thus the Mad Libs / song poem quality of this rendition.)

We're leaving space to work,                    
Stykuya ships in orbit,                        
And all originates from the first flight,             
Gagarin first turn around the Earth.          

The commander of the ship, bright-eyed Russian guy,      
He smile his whole universe presented.            
No, not for nothing that went first in space Yuri Gagarin,     
It is a new road has opened for us.                   


Space miracle machines                         
Explore Venus and the Moon,                          
And if it is necessary, and we take off, guys,          
Climb into outer space any new ground.          

The commander, fighting a brave man,         
With the crew will go to Mercury and Mars.          
No, not for nothing that went first in space Yuri Gagarin,     
He opened a new road for us.                   

Floats Land expanses of the universe,                
Around the Sun holds its usual path,           
And we live, humans, daring dream          
Across the Solar System to walk someday.   

The commander, son of Earth, a great guy,     
Astronauts, scientists will deliver at Pluto.           
No, not for nothing that went first in space Yuri Gagarin,     
For the future they committed feat.

I have no idea what "For the future they committed feat" means.

Whatever ... Here is a more recent Gagarin song:

Sunday, March 06, 2016

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

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Sunday, March 6, 2016
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
Webcasting!
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell(at)ksfr.org

Here's the playlist

OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres

Burn, Baby Burn by Stud Cole

Changing Colors by The BellRays

The Witch by Los Peyotes

I'm the One by BBQ

Anala by The King Khan & BBQ Show

Smoked All My Bud by King Mud

Startin' to Slip by Sons of Hercules

Cadillac Hips by Soledad Brothers

Must Be Desire by Mojo Juju

 

Springtime for Hitler / Don't Cry For Me Argentina by Billy Joe Winghead

Shortnin' Bread by The Cramps

Jenny Take a Ride by Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels

Buzz Buzz Buzz by The Blasters

Red Hot by Sam the Sham & The Pharoahs

What's the Matter Now by The Oblivions with Mr. Quintron

Shoplifter by Quintron & Miss Pussycat

Golden Surf II by Pere Ubu

 

Almost Ready by Dinosaur Jr.

Silver Monkey by Copper Gamins

Busted by The Black Keys

Betti Moretti by King Salami & The Cumberland 3

Green Sin Bags by Alex Maiorano & The Black Tales

Broken Bones & Pocket Change by St. Paul & The Broken Bones

Red Cadillac by Johnny Rawls

Wild Wild Lover by The A-Bones

Feeling Great Now She's Gone by Lynx Lynx

No Control by The Manxx

 

Albuquerque Freakout by Holy Wave

Searchin' for You by Javier Escovedo

The Hole by The Soul of John Black

My Life by Harlan T. Bobo

Bang Bang by The Gaunga Dyns

As Time Goes By by Jimmy Durante

CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

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Friday, March 04, 2016

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

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Friday, March 4, 2016
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens
Back in the Saddle Again by Charlie Daniels
Mud by Legendary Shack Shakers
My Frijoles Ain't Free Anymore by Augie Meyers
Man of the Road by Wayne Hancock
The Race is On by George Jones
There Ought to Be a Law Against Sunny California by Terry Allen
Boomtown Boogie by Butch Hancock, Terry Allen, Jo Carol Pierce & Joe Ely
Fools Fall in Love by Butch Hancock with Marce LaCouture
Heaven is the Other Way by Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys
Whispering Sea by Loretta Lynn

Poor Don't Vote by Paul Burch
Pretty Girl by Miss Leslie
DIYBYOB by The Waco Brothers
Rats in My Amp by Salty Pajamas
America is a Hard Religion by Robbie Fulks
The Cold Hard Facts of Life by T. Tex Edwards & Out on Parole
Monkey Rag by Asylum Street Spankers

Beautiful Blue Eyes by Red Allen & The Kentuckians
Pick Me Up on Your Way Down by Jimmie Dale Gilmore
God Don't Never Change by Lucinda Williams
7 Devils by Goddamn Gallows
Let's Bounce by Supersuckers
Hillbilly Highway by Reagan Boggs
Need Somebody Bad by Rhonda Vincent
Chattanooga Shoeshine Boy by Red Foley

Velvet ine Matador by Freakwater
Touch of Evil by Tom Russell with Eliza Gilkyson
Blue is My Heart by Holly Williams
When I Was a Cowboy by Odetta
A Beautiful Thing by The Handsome Family
Tiny Island by Leo Kottke
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

NPR Loves a Terry Allen Song

Terry Allen at Plaza Bandstand, Aug. 19, 2009

Artist, musician and Santa Fe resident Terry Allen was honored this week when NPR featured one of his tunes on the Songs We Love segment.

The song is "Cortez Sails" from Terry's 1975 debut album Juarez. Jewly Hight of NPR writes:

 The album's longest track and gravitational center, "Cortez Sail" is a rickety waltz which pivots between whimsical road ballad and ominous war song, between Jabo's keenness to get back across the border into Mexico (homesick and ducking a double murder he'd committed in Cortez, Colorado) and 16th century conquistador Hernan Cortes's drive to brutally colonize the Aztecs. It's a dialogue between the freedom to move, to flee, to choose one's destination, and the power to dominate — or the powerlessness of being dominated.

I never can get the dadgum NPR embeds to work on this blog, so I'll just post a Youtube of the song:



No denying the majesty of "Cortez Sail." But if I were choosing the song that I love most from Juarez, it would have been this one:



Juarez is being re-released again in May, this time on a label called Paradise of Bachelors. You can pre-order HERE. The label also plans to re-release Terry's second album, Lubbock (On Everything).

Thursday, March 03, 2016

THROWBACK THURSDAY: The Sexsational World of Scopitones


Long before cable television, back in the early to mid '60s, dozens of pop and rock stars were filming hundreds of music clips for what amounted to a proto-MTV.

It was centered around a contraption, manufactured in France, called the Scopitone 450, which basically was a jukebox hooked up to a 26-inch TV set that played 16mm film clips.

The technology had been around since at least the 1940s when "Soundies" -- black and white clips played on coin-operated machines -- were briefly the next big thing in show biz.

The Scopitone machine was a huge improvement over the old Soundies model, For one thing, a customer could chose among a wide array of film clips. The clips were in color.

And best of all, as the art form evolved, most the Scopitone clips were filled with scantily-clad go-go girls whose shimmying put Sister Kate to shame! 

As this article in Broadly, a feminist section of Vice says:

... the message in these videos is clear: T&A! The in-your-face sexiness of the images is a stark contrast to the rather unsexy, often downright lame songs. To see more explicit non-static imagery, one would have had to go to the trouble of attending a peep show or tracking down a stag film. The Scopitones' absurdly enthusiastic buxom women were chosen to attract the male gaze on a small screen across a smoky bar, with the promise of a peek at more skin...in the next video.

But let's start with one of the milder ones. Debbie Reynolds' production company was responsible for many of the Scopitones. But the bump and grinding is kept to a minimum here -- though wholesome Debbie sure could work her pretty pink petticoats in this Golden Throat take on "If I Had a Hammer."


But wait, it gets wilder. Check out the bikinis and beehives in this " Pussycat a Go-Go medley by Stacy Adams & The Rockabilly Boys (no, they ain't rockabilly)



Jody Miller was best know for "Queen of the House," and answer song to Roger Miller's "King og the Road." Here she sings a George Jones song. But I don't think Possum done it this way ...



Joi Lansing, one of the queens of the Scopitones, sings one of my favorite songs from a Matt Helm movie.



And here's one in which i actually like the music. It's a song I first heard by The Searchers done by a group called George & Teddy & The Condors. And oh, yeah, there are go-go girls ...




Something was always cooking at Scopitone
(Hat tip to my friend Deborah and our mutual friend Tim for sending me down the Scopitone path.)


Wednesday, March 02, 2016

WACKY WEDNESDAY: Emanating from the Secaucus Lounge ...


'60s nostalgia has been an annoying cultural phenomenon for way too many years. In fact I'm pretty sure it's been plaguing the national imagination since sometime in the early 1970s.

But back in the late '60s, some major (and minor) rock and pop musicians were busy perpetrating a nostalgia for music from even earlier eras.

Think of songs like "Winchester Cathedral" by one-hit wonders The New Vaudeville band, or "When I'm 64" and "Honey Pie" by The Beatles.

Think of a big chunk of the repertoire of The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.

Like this song:



The Rolling Stones did their part in 1967 on the last track of Between the Buttons. Most folks think the lyrics of "Something Happened to Me Yesterday" are about an LSD trip, though the additional of of the woozy sax and trombone (played by Brian Jones) give the tune a whimsical British Music Hall feel.

By the last 30 seconds of the song, the whole thing has morphed into a faux dance band radio broadcast with Mick Jagger serving as the smarmy announcer,: "So from all of us to all of you, not forgetting the boys in the band and our producer Reg Thorpe, we'd like to say God bless. So if you're out tonight, don't forget, if you're on your bike, wear white ..."

Jagger has been quoted saying, "The ending is something I remember hearing on the BBC as the bombs dropped." Take a listen:



Speaking of late '60s songs framed as live radio broadcast, a singer named Guy Marks had a minor hit in 1968 with this little treasure called "Loving You Has Made Me Bananas" that sounded like a Bizarro World version of a depression-era big band dance program. An announcer (Marks himself?) starts it off:

From the Hotel Sheets in downtown Plunketville, the Publican Broadcasting Company presents the Music of Pete DeAngelis and his Loyal Plunketvillevanians. Here in the beautiful gold, yella, copper, steel, iron ballroom of the Hotel Sheets in downtown Plunketville, overlooking the uptown section of downtown Pottstown! 

Then it gets downright silly.



I'm not sure whether this song came before or after a similar recording by San Francisco psychedelic heros Moby Grape. Their album WOW, released in April 1968 had a strange song called "Just Like Gene Aurty, a Foxtrot." This was a Skip Spence composition that featured a guest musician named Arthur Godfrey (!)  I'll let Graham Reid of the Elsewhere blog tell the story:

So just before "Just Like Gene Autry: A Foxtrot" on the 33 rpm album, a voice came on and invited listeners to get up and change the speed of their player to 78 (most players at the time had speeds of 33, 45 and 78, some -- like the one in my house -- even had 16rpm).

And what you got was an orchestra lead by Wow producer Lou Waxman and introduced by famous CBS radio and television announcer Arthur Godfrey who also played banjo and ukulele on it.

"Skippy bumped into Arthur at Columbia [Records]," said band member Jerry Miller later. "The two of them were like Mutt and Jeff, cruising around arm-in-arm. The funny thing was that Arthur Godfrey thought that Gene Autry was the kind of music we did all the time."

Godfrey kicked off the proceedings:

And now, emanating from the Secaucus Lounge of the fabulous Fandango Hotel in Weehawken, New Jersey, we proudly present the celestial melodies of Lou Waxman and his Orchestra, who ask the age old musical question...

And, with Spence crooning like Guy Lombardo on Thorazine, here's what emanated:



So in conclusion, I'll let Frank Zappa have the final word:




TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

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